


Haunted: The House Falls

by MasakoAkira



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Mental Health Issues, Not A Happy Ending, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26263213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasakoAkira/pseuds/MasakoAkira
Summary: Prompt: Bringing two war veterans to a haunted house wasn't exactly the most foolproof plan for fun, but the gamble would have been worth it.Connie starts to realize that she's got PTSD from being around Steven.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14





	Haunted: The House Falls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KahanniAlone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KahanniAlone/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fighting Flirty (or flirty fighting)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21170297) by [DSDUKE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DSDUKE/pseuds/DSDUKE). 



> This is my first one shot/publication as I am I working on a vast SUAU ATM. I saw the prompt from KahanniAlone on a Discord server I am a part of and it sparked a quickly written one shot. The writing here may not be as good as my series that I'm working on now as I didn't dedicate nearly as much time to expanding further on it. I also tend to have missing words a lot as well.
> 
> I also refer to user DSDUKE's Fighting Flirty AU at the beginning so give that one a read as it's really good and was one of the works that inspired me to start writing again.
> 
> Happy birthday, KahanniAlone!
> 
> Without further ado, here is my first published work!

“Oh, c’mon, it’s a haunted house,” Steven said excitedly.

“I don’t know, Steven. I don’t really like scary stuff,” Connie said nervously.

“You’re not gonna be by yourself. You have your strong Mister at your service.”

“You’ve been listening to Love Dramatic again, haven’t you?” she grinned remember when she sang that song to him and made him involuntarily float.

She sighed derisively. She knew it was a bad idea, but if he was so insistent, she had to learn to trust what he says.

“Okay, Mister, I trust you. L-lets’s go,” she stated nervously.

He grinned at her as he extended his hand to her. She placed her left hand into his right hand. Connie’s heart started beating fast as she started into the black void of the entrance. Steven noticed Connie’s hand was starting to become damp and clammy.

_Maybe I shouldn’t have asked…_

Steven stopped causing Connie to abruptly come to a halt. She held a confused look upon her face.

“Connie, are you okay? If you’re that scared, we can stop now,” Steven said with concern lacing his voice. She swallowed hard.

"N-no, it’s fine. I’ve seen way worse. I have you right, Mister?” Connie smiled at him.

“Let me know when/if it gets to be too much, yeah?” She nodded at him. “Let’s go in then.”

He pulled on her hand as she inhaled and exhaled slowly as an attempt to get her heart to slow down. Steven pulled her into the void of black lights illuminating the hallway. All of a sudden, a hand grabbed her shoulder which made her hyper vigilant then made her emit an “EEP!” She jumped back while letting go of Steven’s hand. Instinct kicked in and she placed herself in front of Steven and mimed the action of withdrawing Rose’s cutlass and holding the hilt both of her hands.

“Steven, get back!” Connie roared as she took her defensive stance. Everything came rushing back when she realized that she was without her sword in a dimly lit room, but was able to see the shocked outline of his face. She felt herself start burning with embarrassment.

After seeing Steven’s human half die in front of her, it shook her bad. Shortly after seeing his death, his gem side angrily blew out the floor under where he stood declaring that Pink was gone. These series of moments never left her mind and she would sometimes have nightmares about the events that culminated to that point.

Even though she was able to help get his broken halves to reform the boy into one person, the dread, the terror, the split loneliness never left her. It was good that he actually got the help he needed, but she never thought she would be in his position of being too selfless to cause herself mental harm. Being too selfless to think of herself and making Steven the forefront of everything she did apparently was taking a heavy toll and then some.

She loved him with everything she was and put her life on the line for him without any regard to her own health. After the trauma of the last few years and no one to vent the anger and frustrations to, it was all starting to culminate into the same monster that took over Steven, metaphorically speaking.

Hearing the adrenaline pumping in her ears and the environment seeming to close in on her, panic started setting in with hyperventilation following shortly after.

Another hand gripped her left hand, a familiar hand trying to ground her. However, this caused Connie to snap on the inside. She grabbed his wrist and managed to do an over the shoulder throw. Normally his weight would have made it more difficult to do this as she was able to do this one other time they sparred using momentum to carry him through the throw. His weight be damned when her adrenaline and emotion came into play. A heavy thud with a deep grunt followed. His breathing was staggered as she knocked the breath out of him. He started groaning when he was able to recover some of his breath.

Neither of them anticipated this situation to have transpired in this manner. Connie realized that she laid out Steven and that he was looking up at her with a terrified wide-eyed expression. She lifted her left hand to her mouth, letting out a gasp. She tried to think of the apology to say but nothing would even go past the thinking phase. Suddenly the panic turned into anger as she allowed herself to trust him to protect her when it seemed as if it was always the other way around. It was as if he was the cause of her PTSD from being in the Gem Wars. Her feelings at this time border lined animosity and disgust from having been subjected to his problems, never had been asked how she was feeling as she knew that she wasn’t the hero of the story. It was as if she was more of a sacrifice to make as a last line of defense. Everything started to become overwhelming.

“It’s not fair Steven Universe! How dare you come into my life and wreck it with everything! How dare you throw away my life when you gave yourself up!” Connie rages at him, looking down to his shaken body. “You know, you weren’t the one suffering in all of this! I had to watch you-you- FUCKING die and leave me behind once again. I can barely function as I am always worried something is gonna come and take you away from me! I can't do this anymore, Steven,” she trailed off.

Connie lost all of her inhibition to be embarrassed about the situation as she was previously. She knew she had to move fast to get out of the haunted house. As she bolted the to the entrance, she kept hearing his heavy footsteps following her in a rhythmic tempo. Steven kept calling after Connie to try and figure out why she just flipped him/out on him. They made it back outside, the night sky revealing the clear vast universe. Steven was at a complete loss and never had any inclination that she was suffering greatly.

“Connie, stop,” Steven called after her as he tried to grab her hands in an attempt to stop her so he could talk to her.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Steven!” Connie shouted at him, startling him. He retracted his hands and placed them by the sides of his head as if he was stating that he was surrendering. She whistled for Lion.

“Connie, what’s going on? I know you’re not okay,” Steven asked with apprehension. Lion appeared shortly after he finished his question/statement. Connie sighed while Lion bowed to indicate that he was ready to take Connie wherever.

“I’m going home. Please don’t call, text, or come by my dorm until further notice. I need some time apart,” she stated as she used Lion’s mane as leverage to pull herself onto Lion’s back. Steven’s face displayed his heartbreak at her words.

“Connie, does this—”

“I just need to address some things on my own.”

“I don’t know—”

“Of course you don’t. What a fucking surprise,” she coldly shut him down. Her comments cut him rather deep. “Let’s go, Lion,” she said in a low nearly inaudible voice.

Lion looked at him the same way when he couldn’t understand when Connie was upset that he was just giving himself up to the Diamonds a few years ago. It was a look of disgust which was followed by a snort as he disappeared though his portal.

“What the fuck was that all about?” he whispered to himself. He started to walk back to the hotel they were staying at in Empire City. He kept replaying the conversation through his head trying to figure out if he could pinpoint where it took the turn for the worst. He was also backtracking to the event to which she was referring back to. The one thing that kept stinging with the emotional pain and getting worse every time his replayed it back in his mind was the comment of “Of course you don’t. What a fucking surprise.” she spat out at him before she left.

_How am I supposed to fix it if you’re not telling me what’s going on, Connie? I am willing to do whatever I can to do help you._

He was deep in thought when he received a text. He opened the message with a flash of anger shooting its way through him. It was quickly followed by a sense of emptiness. He almost crushed his phone in his hand as he felt the plastics start to twist, nearly cracking. He soon lessened his grip with the feeling of something crushing his chest.

The message on his phone read:

 **Connie** : We’re done, Steven. I can’t do this anymore.


End file.
